In devices with a magnetic storage medium, a head slider bearing an array of magneto-resistive read elements reads data from a rotating multi-track magnetic storage medium. A central head reads the central track while other heads are disposed to either side of the central head to read portions of bordering tracks. In the event of track misregistration, the head-array is displaced from its nominal position. Adjacent track interference is sampled and mitigated by multi-dimensional signal-processing algorithms in the read channel, leading to improved error-rate performance relative to a single-reader configuration.
Multiple magneto-resistive read elements in the head slider increase the complexity of the read element circuitry. Each magneto-resistive read element requires two terminals. Consequently, it would be advantageous if an apparatus existed that is suitable for receiving and amplifying the outputs of multiple magneto-resistive read elements sharing a common terminal.